PARAMEDICS and nurses were kept busy on New Year's Day as revellers made a record number of emergency calls.

Kent Ambulance Trust was inundated with calls as the clock struck midnight.

Emergency call operators received more than 1,100 calls on January 1, with 215 made between midnight and 2am.

Only 855 calls were made on the same day last year.

General manager Steve Rose said: "This has been a challenging festive period because of wintry weather and pubs taking advantage of extended opening times."

Nursing staff and doctors at Darent Valley Hospital, Darenth Wood Road, were also kept busy.

They saw 210 patients pass through casualty with problems such as chest pains, broken bones and injuries from accidents.

Doctors only saw 191 patients on the same day last year.